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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27425077">what spring does to cherry trees</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewalrus_said/pseuds/thewalrus_said'>thewalrus_said</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Mermaids, Cloaca, Love at First Sight, M/M, Mermaid Sex, Soulmates, Throwing Pebbles at Your True Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:08:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,547</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27425077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewalrus_said/pseuds/thewalrus_said</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Out on a search for inspiration, Joe finds it, and so much more, in a merman lurking in the lake.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>180</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>what spring does to cherry trees</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/raedear/gifts">raedear</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My first foray into a new fandom and I bring mermaid sex specifically tailored to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/raedear">Rae</a>'s tastes and no one else's. Hopefully someone else likes it and lets me stay?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joe dug the toe of his sneaker into the sand with a sigh.</p>
<p>It was all just so <em> boring, </em> was the thing. He worked and ate and slept, went dancing and worked out and wrote poetry, and none of it was enough. His life was unfulfilled. He wanted <em> more. </em></p>
<p>That was what this trip to the lake had been for. People in poetry were always finding inspiration in nature, and he’d never been to this particular spot before; call him naive, but he’d hoped for a flash of something, something that would make him feel alive for the first time in a long time. But so far, nothing.</p>
<p>He sighed again and dropped to the ground, splaying his legs out in front of him and his hands flat on the stony ground. Idly he combed through the rocks, looking for any standouts. But, of course, they were all just gray little pebbles, not an interesting shape or shade among them. He gathered up a palmful and flung them out into the lake.</p>
<p>They landed with satisfying little <em> plink </em>s, and he looked down to start pulling together a second palmful. Before he could, though, there was a sharp sting on his calf, and then one on his chest, and then a pebble hit him in the face.</p>
<p>Rubbing his cheek, he shot to his feet, looking around. Nothing came to view until he looked at the water, and then he saw the culprit: There was a face hovering just above the water’s surface, looking laughingly at him. As he watched, the man raised an arm and pelted him with another pebble.</p>
<p>Joe opened his mouth to apologize for throwing rocks at him, to say that he hadn’t even thought to look before yeeting pebbles any which way, but the words died in his throat. He scrambled closer to the lake edge and the man, similarly silent, swam a few lengths closer to the shore.</p>
<p>This close, Joe could see the man’s face more clearly, take in the arched magnificence of his nose, the twinkle of his seafoam eyes, the smirk that still danced at the corner of his mouth. <em> There </em> was his flash of brilliance, there his lightning strike of inspiration. Joe felt himself light up, filling with warmth right to his edges and beyond, and he saw an answering awe spark up in those brilliant green eyes.</p>
<p>The man lifted himself a little out of the water, enough for Joe to see his fist clenched tight and pressed against his heart. Joe mirrored the motion and reached out with his left hand to pull the man to shore.</p>
<p>The man, the new love of Joe’s life, shook his head sadly. Behind him, Joe saw something flip out of the water, shimmering blue. <em> A tail, </em> he realized with a start. This thief of his heart had a <em> tail. </em></p>
<p>Well. If the man could not come on shore, then Joe would have to go to him. He kicked off his shoes and took a running start into the lake. The man—the <em> mer</em>man—startled as Joe splashed into the water, and Joe heard a laugh just before he dived, his head plunging below the surface.</p>
<p>He had just enough time to look around and confirm that yes, his soulmate was in fact a mermaid, before the man’s face was beside him, his hand slipping into Joe’s. He jerked his head, <em> this way, </em> and started swimming, Joe towed along in his wake.</p>
<p>They swam further into the lake, into deeper and darker waters, until Joe couldn’t see anything anymore, all his trust in his new companion. Just as his lungs were starting to burn, just as he thought he couldn’t go another second without a breath, the man pulled him up and his head broke the surface.</p>
<p>Joe gasped in air, one hand wiping water off his face and pushing his hair back from his forehead. When he could get his eyes open again, the first thing he saw was the merman’s face, beaming at him. “You came,” the man said, his voice halting and accented. It went straight to Joe’s heart.</p>
<p>“Of course I came,” Joe said. “Where are we?” They weren’t at the lake anymore. There was a shore, but it was unfamiliar, a lean-to shack where there had been nothing but trees.</p>
<p>“My home,” the man said. “I can speak here. I can’t speak in your world.”</p>
<p>“Then I want to stay here,” Joe said honestly. “Your voice is beautiful. May I kiss you?”</p>
<p>“Please,” the man said fervently.</p>
<p>Legs steadily treading water, Joe reached out and took the man’s face in his hands, pulling him forward until their legs met. His new love’s arms went around him, pulling him close, his thick tail pushing against Joe’s legs.</p>
<p>His kiss was like the sun on Joe’s face, the soft noise he made when Joe tilted his face and kissed him deeper like the song of birds. He tightened his arms around Joe and opened his mouth to Joe’s tongue and Joe could drown right there a happy man.</p>
<p>A sharp call broke them apart after several long minutes, a cry of, “Nicky!” Joe’s lover broke away from his mouth to turn towards the shore, and Joe followed his glance. A man was standing there, a human, with sandy blond hair and a melancholy tilt to his brow, waving at them. “Who’s that?” he called.</p>
<p>“Nicky?” Joe murmured. “Is that your name?”</p>
<p>“Nicolo,” his beloved murmured back. “Nicky to family.” He turned back to the man. “I don’t have a word for who this man is,” he replied in a carrying tone, “but he is here with me.”</p>
<p>“Good grief.” The man on the shore put his hands on his hips. “Well, bring him in,” he said. “Andy and Quynh will want to meet him.”</p>
<p>Nicky turned back to Joe. “What is your name?”</p>
<p>“Yusuf to my mother,” Joe said, “may she rest in peace. Joe to everyone else.”</p>
<p>“Joe,” Nicky said in his sweet voice, tasting it on his tongue. “My Joe.”</p>
<p><em> “Hayati,” </em> Joe said softly, running a hand down Nicky’s cheek. “That’s the word for what I am to you, and you to me. My life.”</p>
<p><em> “Hayati,” </em> Nicky repeated. “Come and meet my family?”</p>
<p>Joe kissed him again, a sweet press of lips that Nicky melted into. “I want to meet everyone.”</p>
<p>They swam around to the other side of what turned out to be a small island; the building butted up against the water. Nicky unhooked a door in the back and revealed a small channel of water leading into the house, into a spacious room with sofas and a bar, and small nooks for people in the water to hang off of.</p>
<p>The man from the shore was there, fixing himself a drink at the bar. “Joe, this is Booker,” Nicky said. “Booker, this is Joe, my <em> hayati.” </em></p>
<p>“I see,” Booker said drily. “Nice to meet you, Joe.”</p>
<p>“And you,” Joe said. He and Nicky swam up to two of the nooks and settled in.</p>
<p>“Can I get you a drink?” Booker asked, knocking back half of whatever was in his own glass. “Or you can come out of the water and have a look at our stock.”</p>
<p>“I’m alright here,” Joe said, looking over at Nicky next to him, who beamed at him. “No drink, thank you.”</p>
<p>“Alright.” Booker refilled his glass and dropped down onto the sofa. “Andy and Quynh went hunting, they should be back in a few hours.”</p>
<p>“Are Andy and Quynh mermaids or humans?” Joe asked.</p>
<p>“They’re mer,” Nicky said. “Quynh used to be human, but she underwent the Change to be together with Andy all the time. They’re like us,” he explained. “They don’t use the same word, but they’re like us.”</p>
<p>“And what about you?” Joe turned back to Booker. “How did you end up here?”</p>
<p>“Andy pulled me out of a shipwreck,” Booker said. “I had nothing to go back to our world for, so they let me stick around.”</p>
<p>“You’re an important member of the family, Booker,” Nicky said quietly. “One day your person will come.”</p>
<p>Booker gave him a sad smile. “I know you believe that, Nicky.” He drained his glass and clapped his hands on his thighs. “Don’t mind me,” he said brightly. “I expect you want to stay with Nicky, Joe, so I’ll give you the tour of the house before bed. Nicky, you’ll show him the rest of the place?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Nicky said. “Thank you, Booker.”</p>
<p>“Have fun,” Booker said with a backwards wave, already halfway back to the bar.</p>
<p>The island was small enough that they were done with the tour within half an hour, having circled around it in the water. “Booker’s occupied it alone since he got here,” Nicky said, treading water next to Joe. “It’ll be good for him to have someone else there, I think.”</p>
<p>“He seems remarkably sad.”</p>
<p>Nicky shrugged. “He’s lonely. But his <em> hayati </em> will come, or someone else. He just wants someone to love.” He leaned into the kiss Joe gave him for that, one hand pushing into Joe’s hair. “There’s one more place I want to show you,” he murmured. “It’s a bit of a swim. Are you up for it?”</p>
<p>“I’ll follow you anywhere,” Joe said, biting at Nicky’s lip. “Lead the way, my love.”</p>
<p>It was indeed a bit of a swim, but after about twenty minutes of traveling straight out from the island, they came upon an outcropping of stone, gently sloping up from the water. “Quynh and Andy found this place ages ago,” Nicky said into Joe’s ear. “It’s a place for them to be together. Watch this.” He swam forward and almost effortlessly pushed himself up the slope, using his arms to pull himself along until his entire body was spread out on the rock.</p>
<p>Joe had to take a moment to rake his eyes over Nicky’s body, the way his chest curved into his soft stomach into the glimmering iridescence of his tail, thick and powerful as it lashed gently against the soft stone he was lying on. <em> “Hayati,” </em> Nicky called, holding a hand out to him. “Come to me.”</p>
<p>Joe threw himself forward through the water until he could clamber onto the rock, stretching out beside Nicky. “A place to be together, huh?” he said, voice pitched low. Nicky answered him by lunging forward and catching Joe’s mouth with his own. Joe propped himself up on one elbow and set the other to caressing Nicky’s neck, chest, and scale-studded hips as they devoured each other.</p>
<p>Soon it wasn’t enough, not enough contact, not enough pressure. Joe pushed Nicky onto his back and climbed on top of him, knees on either side of his tail, pressing the whole length of his body against his lover’s as they kissed frantically. “Joe,” Nicky moaned, Joe’s mouth sucking a patch of his hot neck. “Joe, <em> hayati, </em> love, my sun, tell me how to make you feel good.”</p>
<p>“You don’t have to do much, the state I’m in,” Joe said honestly, pressing his forehead to Nicky’s. He was achingly hard, the friction of his wet clothes against his cock a desperate counterpoint to the way he was semi-consciously thrusting his hips against Nicky’s tail. “I’ll teach you all about how to make love to humans another time; for now, just keep kissing me.” He seized Nicky’s lips again, moving his hips faster. Nicky moaned high and sharp and flung his arms around Joe, starting to piston his own hips up to meet Joe’s. One hand landed low on Joe’s back. Joe reached around and lowered it until it was resting on the swell of his ass; Nicky gripped it tight and bit Joe’s tongue and Joe came with a guttural cry, panting as his cock pulsed in his sodden underwear.</p>
<p>“Gorgeous,” Nicky breathed as Joe calmed himself. “You’re beautiful, my Joe.”</p>
<p>Joe kissed him deeply. “You’re a finger of God himself come to my arms,” he said, nosing the flush as it stole its way down Nicky’s neck. “Now you.” He raised himself up. “Tell me how to make you feel good, my treasure.”</p>
<p>Nicky pushed at him until he was on his side again, rolling onto his flank and taking Joe’s hand. He set it low on his back, pushing it down into his tail until Joe’s questing fingers found an entrance, slick with leaking fluid. “Here?” Joe asked. Nicky nodded, biting his lip. Joe began to circle the hole with the pad of his finger and Nicky moaned, jerking forward until he could press his mouth to Joe’s again.</p>
<p>Joe pressed his finger against Nicky’s hole until he was inside him up to the first knuckle, and then the second. Nicky was moaning again, low and constant into Joe’s mouth. Joe set his thumb to rubbing his rim again, slow and light, and Nicky whimpered. “Just like that,” he rasped. His tail was thrashing about on the rock, his torso shaking. “Just like that, <em> hayati, </em> but faster, harder, <em> more.” </em></p>
<p>Joe gave it to him, index finger thrusting in and out of him faster and faster and thumb pressing down against the rim. Nicky caught his face between his hands, crying out, and then he tossed his head back with a scream as more of the warm liquid came flowing out of him to drench Joe’s fingers. “Ahhh,” he sighed, tucking his body more firmly against Joe’s. “Thank you, my love.”</p>
<p>Joe pulled his fingers free and brought them to his mouth. The liquid smelled salty, sea brine and fish, and it burst against his tongue in a flash of sharpness when he sucked them into his mouth to clean them. Nicky laughed at his expression, his face pressed into his arm against the rock as he caught his breath.</p>
<p>“I didn’t expect this when I left home this morning,” Joe confessed, tucking one arm under his head and putting the other to Nicky’s hip.</p>
<p>Nicky bit his lip. “Do you have to go back?” he whispered. “Do you have a life I dragged you away from?”</p>
<p>Joe shook his head. “Nothing I’ll miss, or that will miss me. I think I was waiting for you, my whole life.”</p>
<p>“I’ve been waiting for you too,” Nicky said. He reached up and stroked Joe’s cheek, fingers scratching along his beard. “I can’t wait for you to meet Andy and Quynh.”</p>
<p>“I can’t wait to meet them.” Joe kissed Nicky’s fingers when they played across his lips. “What’s the Change?”</p>
<p>“Once a year, under the blue moon, a human can become mer,” Nicky said. “It can’t be undone, though; a mer cannot become human.”</p>
<p>“I see.” Joe fought back a yawn. “Lots to think about.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Nicky said, a laugh in his voice. “But not now, I think, my sun. We have time for a nap before we have to go back.”</p>
<p>Joe shuffled even closer, wrapping his free arm around Nicky’s back. “Promise you’ll be here when I wake up?”</p>
<p>He felt a soft kiss pressed to the tip of his nose. “I promise, Joe.”</p>
<p>“I promise too,” Joe murmured, and let the soft sounds of Nicky’s breathing and water lapping against their outcropping lull him to sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Come find me on <a href="https://thewalrus-said.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/thewalrus_said">Twitter</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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